The Dance
by The Satyricon
Summary: Chloe Sullivan asks Clark Kent to the Sadie Hawkins Dance, with unusual results...THIRD story in the Icon Chlark AU series...Be kind, review kindly!


**The Dance**

By The Satyr Icon

Chloe Sullivan looked at herself in the full length mirror and frowned at the reflection of herself. She wore the new outfit that she spent all of her saved-up-for-weeks allowance on: a vibrant red sundress, orange gauzy see-thru longsleeve shirt, and burgandy jeans. She twisted, turned and looked how the outfit clung to her frame. Even as she made sure her bra was hidden by the spaghetti straps, she still felt a little self-conscious about her figure; she thought she was slower than some girls in her class that were filling out their shirts and jeans. She turned sideways, pressed the cloth on her tummy, and looked at herself. She was rounder up top and on her backside. 'A few more curves, in the right spots,' she thought with a smile and winked. She glanced at her clock. It was 4:36 in the afternoon and time, to her, was slipping by.

'Today isn't the day,' she thought, facing herself, 'the pants are too much'. Lately, in the safety of her bedroom, she was tossing around the idea of wearing both her pants and skirts together, but she was still The New Girl to the leafy little hamlet that was Smallville, and while she wasn't in the "in" crowd at Smallville Middle School, she didn't want to be one of the few social outcasts either. She scrapped her quirky fashion idea as she slid off the pants. Chloe looked back at the mirror and decided that the finishing touch would be barettes. She walked to her dresser, opened the second drawer and pulled out the hairclips. The barettes were adorned with 3 little plastic daisies and Chloe watched herself in the the dresser mirror as she slipped them into her long blonde hair. She spritzed on some Calvin Klein One body spray, took one last bite into her secret new vice, a Clark chocolate bar, smoothed out her sundress again, slipped her sandals, and went outside. She began the long walk to her friend Clark Kent's house.

**Chapter Two**

Chloe liked the planned, gated community that she now lived in. It was a far cry from the declining Metropolis neighborhood near the other LuthorCorp Sewage Processing Plant that her father, Gabe, worked at before being transferred to Smallville. She looked back at her new house, a newly built town house that outshined the old two-story duplex that she and her father had called home just 3 months before. As she walked out the gates, Suburban Smallville disappeared and rural Kansas again reared its head as she had to trudge down the shoulder down the two-laned highway. She wished for a LutherCab taxi, a Metro Transit System bus, or even the slightly scary Metube subway train that had zipped her around Metropolis, even, God forbid, _a bike_, as she saw a big rig semi barrelling down the highway. She walked closer to a barb-wire fence, moving away from the asphalt. The trucker hit his air horn as he rumbled by her, making her jump. "Jerk!" she screamed. 'I have to write a story about getting actual cement sidewalks or bike lanes in this hick town,' she immediately thought. 'I wonder how many kids get plastered around here by those behemoths like I almost was...ugh...nice thought, Chloe.' She gritted her teeth and kept on walking.

As she got closer to the dirt lane that lead to Clark's house, she slowed down, getting nervous. She had been over to Clark's place a few times already, but this time was different. She stopped walking. Chloe pulled out a sheet of paper from her ever present knapsack and read her loopy, curlique handwriting, reading through her pros and cons of going to Clark's on this particular afternoon. There were more pros than cons listed and her reasoning steeled her resolve to keep going. She stared at the paper again, looking at her own handwriting. 'Would Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein or Perry White have loopy curliques or dot their i's w/hearts, Chloe Sullivan? No way. Serious journalists start with serious handwriting...Mental note 16 of the day...start using serious handwriting...' Folding the paper back up, her eye was caught by two horses nuzzling their noses. 'A good omen,' she thought, shook a pebble out of one sandals and ventured towards the Kent's yellow two-story house.

**Chapter Three**

'Finally,' Chloe thought as she turned down the dirt path to the Kent's. 'Walking is for suckers, I can't wait to drive.' As she got closer, she saw Clark carry 3 huge cardboard boxes stacked atop each other into the barn. 'Curious,' she thought, 'they must empty or he's way stronger than I guessed'. She slipped quietly inside the barn. She spun around in the dry heat trapped inside there, first looking at the array of farm tools and equipment, bizarre and new to her. She tilted her head up and looked at the wood beam flooring of the loft space and smiled, thinking about how she kissed Clark the very first day they met just 2 months before. It shocked both of them, but she wanted to get that out of the way so they could be friends. But she couldn't stop thinking about it. And, Pete Ross, Clark's best friend, said that Clark mentioned her alot whenever she was not hanging around the two of them. 'Maybe, just maybe,' she thought as she climbed higher on the steps,"Clark thought about it everyday, too.'

Chloe furrowed her brow as she heard Clark above her, singing offkey along to the radio. She stifled a giggle, and recognized the butchered song, "I Want You To Want Me," from one her Dad's old Cheap Trick CDs. She tiptoed on the stairs, listening to him sing...

"I want you to want me...I need you to need me...I'd love you to love me...I'll shine up the old brown shoes, put on a brand-new shirt...I'll get home early from work if you say that you love me..."

'I love you," She whispered and knew she blushed. She reached the top step and her jaw dropped as she saw that Clark had his shirt off...and Chloe thought he looked hot. Surprisingly hot. Better than what she saw in P.E. shorts and shirt. She just stood on the step, watching him sing and move around the loft, moving surprisingly fast for a boy his size. She blinked and shook her head...maybe she was thinking too much about him being shirtless, or the heat in the barn was making her vision funky, because he started to blur.

"Hi Clark!" Chloe said brightly and immediately thought, 'Oh geeze...way to sound over-enthusiastic, Chloe!' She took that last step and entered the loft.

"OH!" Clark seemed to sharpen in her vision as he dropped all three large cardboard boxes that he was still holding. The weight of the boxes shook the rafters. Thick hard-back textbooks, on astronomy and history, spilled out from each. "Chloe...hi," Clark said shyly as he pulled his blue tee-shirt from his back pocket and slipped it back on. "It's hot in here."

'Drat!' Chloe thought as Clark stacked up the books next to his couch. "Maybe it's just you," Chloe said before realizing it. Her eyes widened as Clark gave her an odd look. "No, I'm fine," he said, and pointed to the wall. "The thermometer says its an extra 10 degrees hotter in here than outside." He went back to stacking his books. She simply kept a straight face at the oblivious boy.

**Chapter Four**

"Jeeze, Clark...Those boxes must have weighed a ton," Chloe said pointing at the scattered books. She gave him a peculiar look, her right eyebrow arched, her head tilted slightly. "What kind of vitamins does your mom give you? Flintstones Chewable Vitamins and Steroids?"

Clark smiled at her the smile that seemed to make her stop whatever she was doing, thinking. She basked in it. Chloe grinned back and when Clark looked away, back to his books, she found the will to walk in closer.

"So, whatcha doing?" Chloe looked around the loft, taking in some of Clark's doodads and momentos, some she seen before with Pete when they entered Clark's bedroom, some she hadn't: his poster of the quarterback of the Metropolis Sharks football team ('Did I tell Clark I like the Metro Knights baseball team...well, their colors?' she thought), a picture of him and Pete holding up some fish they caught ('Aww! My boys look sooo adorable!'), his broken Gameboy ('Tetris...Whoa! I gotta ask why the buttons are smashed down!'), the Playstation that they played with sometimes, a couple issues of Maxim and FHM ('Girls of the WB? Who watches that station?'). She saw several Books on CD, about science, nature, astronomy and how to learn french, and spanish . Chloe didn't know Clark had them; 'Sorta explains why he talks well with some of the Mexicans in spanish class'. She looked at his mess of a desk and saw a well worn copy of "Man and Superman" by Fredrich Nietzsche lay on the desktop. 'Clark Kent...curiousier and curiousier...'. She spotted a novelty pen that had "Property of Clark Kent" embossed on the barrel. She looked over and saw that Clark was still stacking books. She snitched the pen, putting it in her knapsack. "Making a club house for me and you?"

"Me and you?" Clark asked, face blank.

"And, umm, Pete?" Chloe added and closed her eyes, never feeling so lame.

"No. Dad says I can set this place up so I can study and relax," Clark said as he grabbed the stack of about twelve books and fit them on a bookshelf. Chloe jumped away from the scene of her little crime at the sound of his voice. Clark didn't notice and said, "Create my alone place like you mentioned a few days ago."

"Lucky!" Chloe said so enviously. "My alone place is the library, either at the school or the Main." She spun and saw that Clark held out his Oxford Dictionary.

"Can you put this on my desk?" He asked and Chloe took the heavy tome with both hands. She opened it. She flipped throught the pages; nearly every entry was a day-glo yellow.

"Why are the words highlighted?" she asked.

"Oh...just words I now know," Clark said offhandedly. He turned away and went back to his task, setting more books on another shelf.

"Really?" Chloe just stared at Clark.

"Yeah." He simply said back.

"I'll test you one day, Clark," Chloe promised.

"I bet you will," Clark said as he grabbed some more books.

She smiled and looked at his desk. "Clark, you have no place for this monster," She said, setting the dictionary on the the floor. "Your desk is a mess."

"It's not messy," Clark said, putting books up on the shelf and heard Chloe's laugh. He frowned.

"Your desk should be the hub of your academic thoughts, Clark," She said and started to organize his desk for him. "How you do so well with your grades, I don't know, looking how you have things set up." She dumped out his desk drawers and sifted through all the contents. She smiled; Clark kept the first note of hers that she passed to him. She wanted to mention it, but she didn't want to make Clark more nervous. She knew that he always was nervous around her.

"Hey!" Clark protested. "That's my stuff."

"Oh hush," Chloe chided, as she scooped up the note and other papers and set them aside. "It's just school supplies and important keepsakes. You act like I am digging around for secrets." Clark smiled and watched his friend arrange everything on his desk. "Your notebooks in this drawer, pencils here, pens there...important notes in the top drawer so you won't lose them." Clark blushed. Quickly, the clutter had a place and Clark was shocked that he had so much room in his desk and on it. She cleared off a spot on the desktop. "And you can set your computer monitor here," she said, turning and giving him a smile. "Ta Da...your old fashioned desk is now your new modern work station."

"Thanks," Clark smiled. "Do you always take things over?"

Chloe laughed and nodded. "Only what I think that could use my touch." Chloe stepped closer to Clark. She reached out and plucked a tiny wood sliver from his shirt. She smiled as she showed him.

"Umm, Dad calls the loft my "Fortress of Solitude"," He said nervously, backing away. Chloe seemed to always make him nervous, despite how friendly she seemed to be.

"Pretty wordy for a farmer," She snarked as she twirled away and looked at the authors and titles of the books on his bookshelves. 'Stephen Hawking...?'

"Hey! My Dad graduated from Metropolis University," Clark protested, hurt. "So did my Mom, Chloe." He leaned against a pillar, arms crossed.

Chloe looked back and saw the hurt on his face. "Sorry, Clark," she said. She reached and touched his forearm. "I really am...I think your parents are great, they've been so nice to me... I gotta stop being a big city snob."

"I don't think your a...snob," Clark smiled. "Are you usually this," Clark thought of a word, but couldn't say that bad one to her. He quickly found a suitible replacement. "Snarky?"

Chloe laughed. "That's Me, Chloe Sullivan, snarky girl for you." Chloe smiled and stuck her tongue out. Clark laughed and went back to his books. When he turned Chloe took a deep breath and let it out, relieved; she wanted Clark to like her, not be mad at her, especially not today. She watched Clark put more books away, in alphabetical order.

**Chapter Five**

Chloe walked over to the telescope Clark had set up by the barn window. She looked through the scope and growled: The scope was trained on her classmate Lana Lang's house, and she saw Lana talking on the phone between sips of pink lemonade as she sat on the porch swing. Chloe glared through the lens at Lana idly smiling at something Chloe couldn't see and she was twirling her long raven hair. Lana set down her drink and the phone and walked off the porch. Chloe swung the telescope in the direction of HER own house, finding it amid the other houses crammed on her lot, and focused the lens on her window. 'Mental note 17, shades up from now on' and she locked the telescope in place.

"Clark...do you like girls with long hair?" Chloe asked as she spun around. 'And vacant smiles?' she didn't add.

"That's an unusual question," Clark said, turning to her.

"Well, you know I am on the school's quote...newspaper... unquote (she flexed her fingers indicating "quotes" to Clark and he laughed) that comes out every month. Now, the press wants an answer." She stepped close to Clark.

"Do I like girls with long hair? Well, it's like all the girls in school have long hair," Clark admitted, stepping back, against a railing. "A girl with short hair would be...unique."

"Really?" She walked over to a box and decided to help him. She started to pull open the flaps on a box.

"Yes," Clark said, looking at the box and remembered it was filled with Playboys that Pete had Clark hide for him. He rushed over, shut it quickly and snatched it away from her. "Umm...take for example you."

"Me?" Chloe wondered why he pulled the box away and she started to reach for it.

"Yeah, you," Clark said, putting the box on a high shelf out of Chloe's reach. "You have a nice smile." Chloe dropped her hand, stopped moving and listened. "Sometimes, I look over at you in home room and you're looking at me and you smile, but your hair gets in the way." Clark blushed and so did Chloe. "So, sometimes long hair is good, sometimes it isn't. Actually, you have a great smile," he added softly, crimson faced. They just stood and smiled with each other.

Now was The Time. Chloe took a deep breath.

"Clark, there is this little ritual called the school dance, and for some crazy reason the first dance of the year is the Sadie Hawkins Dance, and you know that the girls have to ask the boys to the dance, and sure its empowering for girls, and my story for the paper says just that and I am starting to get off track, so I have waited all week to get the nerve, at the same time hoping that no one asked you and Pete said at break today no one did, thank god, so I am here in front of you the day of the dance thats just hours away, of course, and before I totally wuss out...Iwantyotogotothedancewithme." Chloe took another deep breath and her hands crumpled the sides of her dress a bit. She stared at the stare Clark was giving her.

'Why...why was easier to kiss him than to ask him to this stupid dance?' She thought. 'Maybe I should have kissed him again then asked!' That thought made her feel suddenly dizzy.

"What?" Clark asked with a mischivous smile; Pete, of course, had tipped him off.

**Chapter Six**

"Oh geeze, Kent," Chloe said with a little pout. "Ok, Clark...I will go slower," She said with a smile that Clark returned.

"I...," Chloe began and pointed her thumb at herself, "want you...," she pointed her index finger at Clark, "to go...to...the...dance...with...Me." She aimed her thumb back at herself again.

"I'd like to, Chloe," Clark whispered, his head down. "But..."

"NO BUTS!" Chloe interrupted with a fervor that startled Clark. "I saw your mom at the store yesterday...I asked and you have no chores! I double-checked that fact with your dad! I KNOW you CAN go!"

"No...its not that, Chloe," Clark said, reaching out and held her shoulders. His touch seemed to calm her down. "I...can't dance, Chloe." She looked up and flashed him a sad smile; he looked so embarrassed. He let her go.

"Well," Chloe said stepping closer and taking hold of his hand; she smiled when she felt himhold hers back. "I'm not too surprised. After all, big ol' farm boys aren't known for their twinkle toes, especially if they are in those crap kickers." Chloe grinned and pointed at Clark's huge work boots.

"Yeah," Clark laughed, head still down.

"Hmm...," Chloe thought aloud. "Maybe I can show you a few steps? Would that will help?"

Clark slowly looked up, giving her green puppy dog eyes and slowly smiled in a way that made Chloe all melty. "OK...just no laughing at me, ok?"

"I won't laugh," she smiled and put down her knapsack. "Besides, I'm sure you'll be a great student, because you'll have a great teacher."

Chloe let go of his hand, turned and walked over to the bookcase and listened."KSMV? Classic rock, Clark?" Chloe asked as she looked over her shoulder.

"Dad was listening to the radio earlier when he was working on the tractor," Clark said. "and I don't mind listening to that music."

"Remember to listen more," Chloe said. "And sing less." Chloe winked and he broke into a smile; he realized that she could say the snarkiest things to him, and get away with it. She listened to the end of song that the radio station played, "Pretty In Pink," by The Psychodelic Furs.

"Hey! Lana likes pink," Clark said as the song faded out.

"Really?...how...keen," Chloe said, turning away so Clark didn't see her snarl as she gave the radio. She was set to twist the tuner knob like it was Lana's neck when the dee-jay started "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel.

"Hey, I like this song," Chloe said, turning up the radio. "Ok...This is a song we can dance to, Clark." She looked and Clark ambled over, blushing, nervous. Chloe wiggled her fingers at him to speed up. He stopped three feet from Chloe.

"I know you have long arms, but you do have to be closer to me, " Chloe said with a smile. Clark shuffled closer until he was in front of her. "Now, Clark," Chloe started, "Ask me to dance."

"I thought girls had to ask the boys to dance," Clark said with a little smirk.

"Kent, " Chloe mocked-glared and socked his arm. Clark winced for no reason. "Don't quibble."

"Ok," Clark laughed. "Chloe, can I have this dance?"

"Yes," Chloe said with the biggest grin Clark ever seen. 'And all the rest too', she thought as he stepped in closer.

**Chapter Seven**

Chloe looked into Clark's chest. Chloe's eyes traveled higher and higher; Clark was much taller than Chloe even as he slouched.

"Hi!" Chloe said and lost herself in Clark's eyes again.

"Hi!" Clark answered back. Chloe noticed his ears began to turn red. She liked the effect she had over him.

"Wow...you're really tall," Chloe said, stating the obvious.

"I grew 2 more inches since school started," Clark smiled, and straightened his back. He really towered over his friend now.

"Wow...you're getting bigger?" Chloe felt her own ears flush; He had the same effect on her, as Chloe had never been so close to him. She always sat by him at lunch with Pete, and sat as close to him in the class rooms...but this different. Her tummy flip-flopped.

Clark's brow furrowed as he lifted his hands hesitantly. He didn't know where they went. He let them drop back to his sides. Chloe took his right hand and tried not to smile as she placed it on the flare of her hip. It took a few seconds for Clark to relax his fingers, and when he did, he still held her tightly. Chloe licked her lips and Clark exhaled.

"Ok, Kent," Chloe managed to say lightly as she stared into his eyes. "Now...you do it," she whispered and Clark nodded. He rested his hand on her other hip.

"So far, so good," Clark said weakly. His large hands and his fingertips couldn't help but rest on the top curve of her buttocks. Clark's heart started to beat fast. He never touched a girl like this. He wondered if he should move them, but Chloe gave him no hints. He swallowed hard when she held him by his arms.

"Oh, muscles," Chloe said as she felt the soft masses on his arm. She squeezed his biceps. "Big muscles."

"Thanks," Clark said and froze up; no girl ever touched HIM like this.

"Ok, Kent," Chloe said with some authority, willing herself from keeping on feeling Clark's arms. "Dancing is as simple as your farm boy life...follow me," She winced, not wanting to snark NOW and flashed a smile she hoped would not only blind him, but make him forget what she said. "Just step step step step turn...ok?"

"Ok." Clark was scared. His farm boy life was not simple. He was learning that he had some abilities that weren't exactly normal for a fourteen year old. He could lift the tractor his father worked on, run all the acres his family owned in seconds. He had a feeling that those abilties, those powers, were just the start of others. Some teens worried about acne in puberty; Clark worried what power was going to manifest next. 'No, my life isn't simple at all,' he thought and wanted to tell Chloe.

Chloe waited for a beat in the song and started to glide step while in his arms, but Clark lurched like a horse stuck in mud, and stepped awkwardly after her. Chloe jerked to a stop.

"No, Kent! Ok, you have to relax everything," Chloe corrected. "You're all stiff and now it's not a good thing...I don't wanna dance with Frankenstein..."

"Geeze! You're not making it easier, Chloe," Clark whined.

" Sorry," Chloe giggled. "Try again, and this time, do not litterally step into it...gliiiiiiiiiide...into it."

Clark nodded, and as Chloe moved, he stepped smoother.

"Much better!...smoother!" Chloe exclaimed happily. "Ok...now relax your hands, I need the blood to circulate to my legs, Kent."

"Oh geeze." Clark lossened his grip, but kept his fingers on her.

"Sorry again," Chloe whispered, noticing his fingertips didn't move. "There you go...slower...its a slow song, we're not swing dancing...we'll take lessons for those."

Clark nodded, and wondered if she meant it.

"You got it," Chloe said happily and Clark beamed at her. "Now turn...yes...you're a fast learner...you're doing great, Clark, just great!"

"You're a great teacher, Chloe," Clark said.

"Well...duh," Chloe snarked and Clark laughed. "1234 ...1234... 1234... good...very good...OK...count in your head Clark, not out loud"

He began to lead her rather than her leading and Chloe let him, letting him guide her around the loft in a box formation.

"You got it Clark!" Chloe said with a huge smile.

"I think I got you," Clark said easily. Then his eyes went wide; he couldn't believe he said that. Chloe gave him a huge smile. 'Yes...yes you do,' she thought.

"I'll just be quiet now and let you lead," Chloe whispered. She leaned in, rested her head on his chest as she slipped her hands between his arms and torso and hugged him. Clark embraced her back and rested his cheek on atop her head.

Chloe and Clark danced to the romantic song, seamlessly, smoothly, no misteps, no hitch in their movements. He lead her around the loft, around boxes, around knickknacks of his youth, stuff that occupied his time, his mind. That was until Chloe moved to town a couple of months back. Until she kissed him. He never stopped reading his books, but did read the notes she passed to him more often, and wondered what cool thing she was going to say to him or what she was going to wear the next day at school. Clark really looked at Chloe in his arms and she was smiling at him so radiantly, and he knew he was smiling back to her the same way. No one smiled at him like that, except his mom. Clark knew Chloe liked him and maybe liked him a lot and he liked her...a lot, too he realized suddenly. Chloe wasn't just a friend like Pete anymore. She rested her head back on his chest and listened to the song.

_"and all my instincts, they return  
and the grand facade, so soon will burn  
without a noise, without my pride  
I reach out from the inside..."_

Chloe felt Clark lift his head off hers. She looked back up and met Clark's eyes. He stopped moving. He heard Pete's voice in his head, hearing his advice for what to do in the gym at the Sadie Hawkins Dance. "Just kiss her, you big dummy. You like her, she likes you. Kiss her like she kissed you, but longer. EVERYONE knows you like each other. Even Lana told me you two'd make a cute couple! JUST KISS HER!" Pete was Clark's best friend, and it seemed like sound advice. Clark started to lean in.

_"In your eyes  
the light the heat  
in your eyes  
I am complete  
in your eyes  
I see the doorway to a thousand churches..."_

Chloe took a breath. 'Why is he leaning in? Oh my GOD,' she thought. She got on her tippy-toes, her sandals folding up. She watched his lips are get closer. 'Oh my God!' Chloe thought again.' YES YES YES YES!' She closed her eyes.

_"In your eyes  
the resolution of all the fruitless searches  
in your eyes  
I see the light and the heat..."_

'Oh god,' Clark thought. 'I hope my breath is minty fresh...' Clark closed his eyes and hoped he didn't smash his face into hers.

They both felt hot, shallow breaths from each on their chin. Chloe and Clark smiled at the same time as their noses brushed together.

_"Oh, I want to be that complete  
I want to touch the light  
the heat I see in your eyes..."_

Clark's lips were millimeters from Chloe's awaiting mouth...

**Chapter Eight**

_"Love, I don't like to see so much pain..."_

"Oh...is this a bad time?" A soft voice asked from the top stair.  
Both Chloe's and Clark's eyes flashed open.  
The voice belonged to Lana Lang.

_"So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away..."_

Lana Lang stepped into the loft. Clark no longer felt Chloe in his arms. Instead, he felt a wave of nausea. Lana wore a necklace that her aunt Nell gave her when Nell adopted Lana. The necklace was adorned with a piece of the meteor rock that killed Lana's parents during the Great Smallville Meteor Shower of 1989. And, for some reason unknown to Clark, the vibrant verdant fragments of the meteors that were scattered throughout Smallville made him sick and weak. And all the coordination, the grace, the balance that he displayed dancing with Chloe was gone.

Clark felt dizzy, and not from thinking how close he was to kissing Chloe. He stumbled. His size 13 Wolverine workboot came down HARD and FAST, and he stepped with his full weight on Chloe's peachy toes guarded only by thin red cloth of her slip-on sandals. The knobbed soles on the boots compressed on the five little piggies of her right foot, slaughtering them. Over the sound of the music, the three teens heard a sickening CRUNCH.

"OH MY GOD! MY FOOT!" Chloe screamed. She let go of Clark, and crumpled to the floor in a heap, her face awash in anguish, awash in tears. Clark wavered and knelt by Chloe.

"LANA!" Clark yelled angrily, kneeling beside Chloe.

"CHLOE!" Lana yelped as she saw her classmate squirm in pain on the dusty rafter boards.

"CLARK!" Chloe wailed out, trying to touch her foot, but the pain was excruciating. She closed her eyes tightly, but tears poured from the ducts.

Clark looked at Lana, wondering why she seemed to make him physically ill. He felt Chloe's hand grab his forearm. He looked down at Chloe, who was blubbering in pain.

"Oh Clark!...it hurts so bad...I can't feel my toes!" She wailed. She gritted her teeth and as she moved her ankle, but pain shot up her leg from her toes. She sobbed more, from pain and from the sudden fear that she broke some bones.

"Laaaa...naaa," Clark said weakly and Lana stepped closer. "Just ...just go," he waved her back, "go  
downstairs...check if my parents are back from Grandville." Every word for Clark was labored.

"Ok!" Lana said, scared for Chloe and also for Clark; he always spazzed out around her. She ran down the stairs.As soon as Lana was out of sight, Clark instantly felt better, but Chloe was still bawling her eyes out; the pain was throbbing.

Clark jumped to his feet, bent at the knees and scooped Chloe up into his arms. He grabbed her knapsack and ran down the stairs. Chloe cried, but the fact that he was carrying her like a rag doll and taking the steps two at a time amazed her. Again, she didn't realize that he could move so fast or was so strong. The pain was getting pushed aside as she began to wonder about Clark's physical prowess again.

"Oh, please be ok, Chloe," Clark said, looking at her as he stepped off the last step. "I didn't mean it...please be all right." Chloe's chest heaved as she tried to not cry anymore. She sniffled back some tears and nodded to Clark, trying to be strong. As he rushed her out of the barn, he saw Lana waiting by the front door of his house, a safe distance away. Clark and Chloe both felt the rush of air with her on his arms. Chloe's long blonde hair blew to the side,and she looked at Clark; for a few seconds the look of pain was replaced with one of puzzlement on her face. Clark knew he had to slow down; he was rushing, and he was moving far faster than normal. He was mad at himself because his friend, the girl he really, really liked was in pain, pain he caused, and he couldn't use the gifts his mother said he had to really help her.

"Umm, guys," Lana said in front of the Clark's front door, her voice fading as Clark scurried down the dirt path, "I'll just wait here..."

"What are you doing, Clark?" Chloe asked. She thought the pain was subsiding because she was in his arms, but that was a crazy thought.

"I'm carrying you home," Clark said, jaw set, his words determined.

"My home?" Chloes eyes widened.

"Yeah...maybe your dad is home," Clark reasoned. "My parents won't be back until late."

"Are you REALLY carrying Me all the way home?" Chloe couldn't believe it.

"Yes, Chloe," Clark said. "Nothing will stop me."

"Oh." Chloe said simply and smiled between some sniffles.

"I'm so sorry," Clark whispered to her. "I promise I will never let you hurt again..."

She nodded and believed Clark. Liked Clark. Fell more in love with Clark.

As Clark carried Chloe down the highway, she couldn't help but notice between sniffles that he was carrying her effortlessly, not struggling with her weight (not that she thought she weighed a lot) like she thought other boys would over a distance so far; he wasn't even breathing hard. Her ear was by his heart and his heart beat steadily. 'He's not even sweating,' Chloe thought.

"I...I'm not heavy, at all, Clark?" Chloe finally asked, her inquistiveness taking over her pain receptors.

"No, Chloe," Clark said. "I can do this all day," he looked down and gave her smile. Chloe smiled back, her nose a bit snotty from crying. Her sniffling didn't help. He stopped walking and somehow was able to hold her and manage to grab his shirt sleeve. Clark wiped Chloe's nose. Chloe reddened, somewhat embarrassed. But she liked that he wasn't grossed out. She liked how much he cared.

"You're not crying any more," Clark saw. "Do you think you can walk? Put pressure on your foot?"

"I don't know," Chloe said, not wanting downfrom his arms.

"Ok...lets try," He said and slowly set her down on her unhurt foot. Chloe stood on one foot, but even before she sets her hurt foot down, Clark saw her wince dramatically.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow! IT HURTS! CLARK" She yelped. "CARRY ME!"

Clark easily gathered her up and again carried her. As Chloe snuggled in his embrace. Clark wondered just how badly her toes hurt.

"I hope nothing is seriously wrong with your toes, Chloe," Clark said, shielding Chloe from dust that kicked up as a car past them on the freeway. "I don't think the school gunna let Me carry you to all your classes."

Chloe giggled and punched Clark's shoulder softly. She snuggled in again, closed her eyes. The pain was going away and she felt oddly safe in his arms. There was a mesmorizing tranquility being in Clark's arms, she thought, and she dozed as he carried her. He walked as fast and as gently as he could to her house without waking the sleeping beauty in his arms.

Gabe Sullivan saw a tall boy carrying his daughter as he made the turn onto his street. Chloe recognized the sounds her dad's car made and she opened her eyes. Gabe drove beside Clark, parked, and hopped out.

"What happened?" Gabe exclaimed. "What happened to Chloe?"

"I stepped on her, sir," Clark said, face forlorn.

"Sir?" Gabe asked, more shocked at Clark's manners than why Chloe was in his arms.

"Daddy," Chloe said sweetly, "this is Clark, the boy I told you about."

"Oh THAT Clark," Gabe said. "You're all she ever talks about...well, you or her research on the weird and wacky."

"DADDY!" Chloe was instantly mortified.

Gabe looked at her, looked how she was held by Clark and suddenly, Chloe was intimately aware that Clark's right hand was under her dress, on her outer thigh and her bare thighs were on his forearm. She gulped at her father's unpleased look. 'Maybe I WILL start wearing pants and skirts together,' she quickly thought.

"I really am hurting, Daddy," Chloe said as she shook her foot. "Ow ow ow."

Gabe and Clark look at each other suspiciously.

"It hurts! Clark's all big and muscley and tall and strong and...," Chloe ranted frantically to her father and knew she said too much. "Well...look at his boots Daddy! Look at my sandal!" she pointed.

"Ouch," Gabe said, looking at Clark's boot and the dirty imprint that covered her sandal. He also saw a purple splotch creeping from under the red cloth. He winced at the bruise. "Ok, Funny Bunny, lets go to the medical center." Chloe scrunched her face at her father for revealing yet another secret. "Clark," Gabe said, oblivious to his daughter's face, "wanna put Fun..." Chloe growled and Gabe saw the now intense look on her face. "I mean," he chuckled, "wanna put Chloe down? You must be tired. Your farm is a bit aways."

"Your daughter doesn't weigh anything, Sir," Clark said politely. Gabe wondered if this boy was from another planet. Even Chloe looked at Clark strangely.

"Clark, please call me Gabe, or even Mister Sullivan," Gabe laughed as he opened the passenger door. He motioned Clark to slide Chloe inside the car. "I'm not used to such politeness."

"Ok, Suh...Mr Sullivan," Clark said as he gently placed Chloe in the car.

"Clark," Chloe said as she lowered her window. "Gimme your phone number."

"Ok," Clark said and gave her the number. He watched as Chloe dug her cell phone from her knap sack. She smiled as she entered it at the top of speed dial memory bank, surplanting her father's work number and her home phone.

"You mean you could have called your dad?" Clark asked as Gabe turned on the engine.

"Oops. The pain and you carrying me made me forget I had the cell," Chloe said with a smile. "I'll call you tonight when I get back from the docs."

As Gabe pulled away, Chloe waved bye and Clark waved back. When the car went around the corner, Clark thought how close he felt to Chloe now. He smiled and jogged home

**Chapter Nine**

THAT NIGHT

Chloe sat up on her bed, wiggled her back on the huge comfy pillows, and turned down the volume on the television in her room. She clicked on the captions, though. She really didn't want to miss the latest A&E episode of "Investigative Reports." But, there was a reason to pay twenty five percent attention to the show rather than the hundred and ten she always gave the show; she finally had Clark's phone number. She accessed her saved numbers and smiled as she read Clark's name and number. She pressed a button and held the phone to her ear and heard the beeps and boops.

"Hi," Chloe answered back when Martha answered and said hello. "Is Clark there?...it's...Yes, Mrs. Kent, it's Chloe," she said with a huge grin, glad that Martha recognized her from the times she had visited Clark. "Oh thank you...no, no broken or fractured bones. Just smushed, hurty toes and an ugly bruise." Chloe winced at the decapitated body in a garbage bag on the screen. "Wow," she said softly to Martha," you don't have to...a whole cherry pie?...yes, cherry is my favorite..Clark told you that?" Chloe said,impressed with Clark. "Thank you Mrs. Kent...what? Ok...we Metropolis girls do gotta stick together," Chloe laughed and agreed with Martha. "I didn't know that! So you were born in Metropolis too? Cool!...ok...I'll hold on," Chloe said to Martha and laid her head back, happy to have a co-conspiritor that happened to be the mom of the boy she had a crush on. Chloe giggled as she heard Martha scream out to Clark; he must be up in the loft, she wondered. She shot up to attention when she heard the phone switch hands.

"Chloe?"

"Yes, Kent. Chloe one and only. What other girl said she'd call you tonight?" She snarked. 'It better be just me,' she thought.

"Ummm...," Clark said as he walked back into the barn. Things seemed like normal in a weird way. She was snarky and he was nervous. "You're the only girl that has my number."

"Oh...well...good," Chloe said, surprised Lana Lang or Alicia Baker or even Felice Chandler didn't have Clark's number. 'Were the girls in class blind? Ok, Clark wears primary colors and flannels, but Clark's a hottie,' Chloe thought. She was estatic that Clark gave her the number. Now she had to scare him into keeping it that way. "It might stay like if word gets around you crush pretty girls' toes, Kent."

"I am so sorry Chloe," Clark said and Chloe knew it.

"I know, Kent. AND we are missing the dance," Chloe said with a little pout.

"Sorry," Clark said again and hoped that that word wasn't going to be a trademark in their friendship.

"I had to get special footwear," Chloe said and looked over at the dresser. The huge box the footwear came in was on it. She heard Clark sigh and that touched her heart.

"Really...I am so sorry," Clark said and rubbed his face. She heard Clark sigh and that touched her heart. Clark was sad. Was she snarking? Was she serious? Clark walked to his telescope; he wanted to look at the stars and be far from Earth as possible right now. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"You know," Chloe smiled, "I was just thinking about that." She rolled on her tummy. "I'm still limping, but...I'll be ready by Monday. But be ready. I may have you carry me around. You already proved it would be no sweat."

"Well...yeah," Clark laughed.

"You're so big and strong and I am so sweet and petite."

"You are," Clark agreed and Chloe blushed. There was an awkward silence. "My mom baked you a delicious pie," Clark said to break up the quiet.

"Yeah...," Chloe said. "She told me...she's great. I really like her a lot."

"She likes you" Clark revealed and Chloe glowed. "She says you're sweet and spunky. Did you really tape her saying I didn't have any chores?"

Chloe laughed hard and dropped her right foot on a soft pillow, but that caused her to yelp.

"ARE YOU OK? WANT ME TO COME OVER?" Clark yelled into the phone.

"No...," Chloe said, "It's ok, Clark...I forgot about my foot. Plus the docs gave me some chewable codeine."

"Ok."

"If I said yes, Clark," Chloe laughed, "I think you'd run and be here in five seconds."

"Umm...," Clark stared into the night sky outside his window, first looking towards Lana's house. Then he looked in the direction of Chloe's house. He saw the telescope point in that direction too. "Maybe ten seconds."

"I bet you could, too!" Chloe laughed, "you sounded so amped up."

"Well...," Clark said as he looked into the telescope viewfinder; he didn't move the barrel. Did Chloe, he wondered. "I did say I'd never let you get hurt..."

"So you're like my protector, Clark?" Chloe thought that was sweet.

"Umm...I guess," He said as he focused the lens and saw Chloe laying on her tummy. She wore a long tee that ended at her mid thigh. He gulped. Chloe rolled and sat back again. Clark saw the tee slide up. He thought this was better than watching Lana watercoloring with shades of pink.

"So...why did Lana come over," Chloe asked and Clark wondered if she could read his mind.

"Lana...well...Lana wanted to ask me to the dance," Clark explained. He heard a growl but didn'r see a pit bull in Chloe's room. "The older boy that she is going with, Whitney, couldn't go with her."

"Yeah?" Chloe said, perturbed. She thought the idea of Lana, an eigth grader, with a High School Junior was beyond squicky. "And?"

"Well, I am here talking to you, aren't I, Chloe?" Clark said, watching the grip she had on a pillow relax. "I want to dance with you. Just you. I liked being with you."

"Oh," Chloe said in a little tiny voice and smiled brightly. Clark smiled back to her even though she couldn't see it.

"Clark...I don't know if you noticed," Chloe began slowly, "but it seems like Lana makes you sick whenever she is around."

"I know," Clark agreed.

"Pete says you kinda like her," Chloe said, the words tough to say. Clark saw her toss a pillow.

"Pete liked her in sixth grade!" Clark shot back.

"Wow...point is...he doesn't spazz out around her," Chloe reasoned.

"I don't spazz...I get nauseated," Clark said.

"Maybe," Chloe laughed, "you should be around a girl that doesn't want to make you hurl."

"Yeah," Clark said.

"Do...do I make you want to lose your lunch?" Chloe asked with a giggle.

"No, Chloe...," Clark answered, and everything fell into place in his mind. "I wished we went to the dance more now."

"Me too," Chloe squirmed and Clark watched. "Why haven't you been to a dance?"

"I never do anything school related," Clark admitted and Chloe felt a pang of sadness.

"But you're a star Mathalete, the only boy in the Pony Expressions equine club, undefeated in the Chess Club, in 4H, President of the Astro-Nuts," Chloe said in defense of her...HER guy she thought.

"You made my point for me, Chloe," Clark said, surprised that she knew all that. "I don't do anything COOL that's school related."

"Geeks are cool," Chloe said. Then she slapped her forehead.

"So, I'm a geek?" Clark laughed; the comment stung but watching Chloe smack her forehead and toss her pillow at the tv when he retorted was funny.

"Geeks are in, Clark," Chloe said and rubbed her forehead. "Geeks don't look or act like you, but geeks are in. I like geeks. I like you."

Clark blushed.

"I bet you are blushing," Chloe said.

"Yeah, I am," Clark said back. "Can you come over tomorrow?"

"Oh..." Chloe was surprised. "Maybe. Promise not to crush my foot?"

"I promise. No dancing. Mom has that pie for you," Clark reminded.

"Oh yeah...hey...can I bring over a movie and we watch it together? My choice?" Chloe suggested.

"Yes."

"Good. Great. Perfect."

"My foot is throbbing, Clark," Chloe said and rubbed her shin. "I need to take a pain killer. It will konk me out again so I guess it's goodnight."

"Its throbbing because your foot isn't elevated, Chloe," Clark said and regretted it.

"Hey...HOW do you know its not up?" Chloe looked to her window. "Are you looking into my bedroom? Are you spying on me?"

"No...what?" Clark stammered.

"Stop peeking in my window..." Chloe tugged down the hem of her shirt on her thighs. Slowly.

" I didn't mean to, " Clark said somehow with his foot in his mouth. "The telescope was pointed there."

"Mmm Hmm," Chloe said, swung her legs slowly and got off the bed. She limped to the window.

"Honest!" Clark pleaded.

"Its ok, peeping tom...see you tomorrow," Chloe said at the windowpane. "Just don't peek at me around five thirty in the morning during the week. Thats when I get ready for school, ok?" Chloe said with a smile.

"Umm, ok." Clark looked at his alarm clock that was in the loft.

"Night night Clark. Sweet dreams."

"Night night, Chloe. You too."

The pain was still there in her toes. But it was gone when Clark held her. She looked at the codeine that the docs gave her. She wanted Clark's embrace instead. She winked out the window in case he was looking still, closed the blinds, got back into bed, and set the timer on the television to shut off in an hour. The pain meds took affect and she dreamed of dancing, of kissing with Clark.

**Chapter Ten **

The next day, in the afternoon, Clark heard a strange thudding coming up the loft staircase. It wasn't his Dad nor his Mom, or even Pete. He put aside his astronomy book and looked up to see who was walking up to the loft.

"It's me, Clark," Chloe called out at the starcase turn and she slowly negociated the stairs.

"Need help?" he asked.

"Nah," Chloe called out.

Clark went and sat on the couch and set up the VCR.

"Hey," Chloe said.

Clark looked and the midday sun caught the blonde of her...Clark eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Chloe's long hair was gone, and she had a new flippy haircut. She quickly twitched her head, flicking her hair around.

"You like? I just got it," Chloe said with a huge grin. Clark was awestruck: She was more than pretty; Chloe was beautiful. "Umm, Clark...you will get a horsefly in your mouth if you don't close it, and I'm not joking. We are in a barn."

He just stood there nodding. What he could do was pointed at her hand.

"We're watching "Dirty Dancing, ok?" she said and Clark nodded. Chloe thudded up to the final step and somehow her smile brightened.

"My special footwear," she said and wiggled her right foot a bit. Clark looked and laughed. "Steel-toe Doc Marten boots," Chloe giggled. She limped and plopped onto the couch where Clark patted, right next to him. She smiled at him. "I figure, if I am going to stick around you, Kent, I'm gunna be prepared."

Right then, Clark Kent fell in love with Chloe Sullivan. But, for all his superhuman gifts, he couldn't muster the nerve to tell her. Even as she snuggled next to him and laid her head on his shoulder as they watched the movie. Even as he draped his arm around her and held her close. But Chloe knew better. She understood how her brashness made him shy, how her bluntness made him careful. So she made sure she was right where she needed to be. Right where he wanted her. Right next to him.

**THE END**


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